Landing sail for aircraft



July 14, 193

R. WEICHARDT LANDING SAIL FOR AIRCRAFT Filed Jan. 21, 1956 Patented July 14, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Kraift & Weichardt, poration of Germany Bremen, Germany, a cor- Application January 21, 1936, Serial No. 60,139 In Germany July 30, 1934 4 Claims.

This invention relates to sails for enabling aircraft to alight in the vicinity of a ship, and in particular to landing sails which are furled by winding upon a boom which can be swung inboard or extended from the ships side.

Hitherto it has been the practice to install on deck the means for turning the boom to furl the sail, such means occupying much-needed space near the inboard end of the boom; and the boom has consequently called for a greater length of deck for its accommodation and the accommodation of its operating motor. One object of the present invention is to economize space in this respect.

To this end the invention contemplates the mounting of the means for turning the boom upon the boom itself or Within it. The further advantage is thereby obtained that the boom can be rotated whether swung inboard or extended, without need for auxiliary apparatus occupying further deck space. Thus, for example, the sail may be unfurled for drying and furled when dry while the'boom remains inboard.

The accompanying drawing shows by way of example a construction in which an electric motor rotates a sleeve upon a non-rotating boom,

Figure 1 being an elevation of the boom swung outboard,

Figure 2 a plan of it,

Figure 3 an axial section on a larger scale through the casing containing driving motor and gearing, and

Figure 4 an enlarged cross section on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

The means for turning the boom, say an electric motor a, is directly attached to, or built into, the inboard end of the boom 19. In the construction illustrated the inboard end of the boom is formed as, or attached to, a casing housing the motor a and gearing d as seen in Figure 3. The boom is shown as itself non-rotatable, and equipped with a sleeve e upon which the sail s is furled. This sleeve is turned by a shaft extending through the boom and gearing g h i, the

' pinions h and i projecting through openings in the boom to mesh with internal teeth upon the sleeve 6.

Where the boom itself is revoluble the shaft 1 is connected direct to the boom, the boom then rotating in the casing and being supported by eyes.

The building of the driving means into or upon 5 the boom also makes it possible to provide either on deck or in connection with the built-in motor a means for swinging the boom in and out. In the example of construction illustrated the inboard end of the boom is for this purpose pivotally attached to a horizontal quadrant k, and a pinion o meshing with corresponding teeth upon the quadrant is driven by the motor a through gearing m, n to cause the boom to swing about its pivot. Clutches p, q can be engaged alternatively by suitable control means such as the spindle T to connect to the motor either the gearing d by which the boom is rotated or the gearing m, n, by which the boom is swung.

I claim:

1. Marine landing means for aircraft comprising a boom pivoted to swing outboard, a sail, a motor mounted on the boom, means for furling the sail upon the boom, means for swinging the boom inboard, and means for selectively engaging the means for furling the sail and the means for swinging the boom with the motor.

2. Marine landing means for aircraft comprising a boom pivoted to swing outboard, a sleeve rotatable upon the boom, a motor mounted on the boom, a sail connected with said sleeve to furl upon it, gearing for rotating said sleeve, gearing for swinging the boom, and means to selectively connect the gearing for rotating the sleeve and the gearing for swinging the boom with the motor.

3. Marine landing means for aircraft comprising a boom, a landing sail, a motor mounted in the boom, a rotatable surface constituting a part of the boom, and means driven by the motor for rotating said surface for winding the sail around the boom.

4. Marine landing means according to claim 3, in which the rotatable surface of the boom comprises a sleeve upon which the sail is wound.

RUDOLF WEICHARDT. 

